With memories of that 5-0 capitulation at Blyth at the end of last season finally now fading, a complete and utter overhaul of Edgar Street coaching and playing staff in the interim has brought renewed optimism to Edgar Street with the new season nearly upon us. ‘Fading’ rather than ‘forgotten’ is probably about right, because even though that was a singularly bad day for the HFC brand, it wasn’t entirely dislocated from everything else we’ve had to watch in recent seasons.
In attempting to move from fading to forgotten, the business done by Paul Caddis since taking over as manager looks potentially very exciting, and at the very least very interesting. Admittedly a great deal is reliant on oodles of potential among the new recruits being turned into a squad that gels quickly and turns that potential into goals and points, but there’s a suggestion in the air that supporters have a decent and entertaining season in prospect for the first time in some time.
It’s also worth commending the club on the business done in bringing Caddis in, an appointee somewhat from leftfield, not someone safely plucked from the usual merry-go-round of appointments and sackings at this level (and every level of football, depressingly). It seems that he was selected purely by being the outstanding candidate – what a novel approach.
A promising pre-season programme has heightened that feeling of optimism among supporters, but also highlighted just how bland the Edgar Street product had become over the last couple of seasons, and how meek the team was in regularly losing, and never, ever turning losing positions into winning comebacks. With that in mind, most optimism seems to be tempered by a healthy dose of careful expectation management too, with defeat at Bromsgrove pre-season possibly helping in this regard.
Players like Curtis Pond in goal, and central defenders Cameron and Howkins, look like just the sort of players to ensure that one-trick ponies like Alfreton (many, many other one-trick ponies are available in the National League North) can’t bully their way to 1-0 victories against the Bulls this season. They’ll be made to work for anything they get, won’t be allowed to settle at the back with a hopefully-soon-fit-again Jason Cowley constantly pestering them, and will feel like they’ve been in a game by the end, rather than feeling like they’ve been out for a Sunday stroll. That much at least seems to be guaranteed. Certain players and coaches have come to Edgar Street in recent seasons and been allowed to feel that they can referee games. It feels like that’s very much less likely to happen under Paul Caddis than it did under Josh Gowling.
There has been some concern expressed about a perceived lack of mobility in the assembled squad defensively. Well, we’ve had a mobile defence in the past (the Haines and Pollock central defensive partnership for example) and they’ve been utterly steamrollered. Defensive mobility in this division as a priority gets trumped every time by defensive thou-shalt-not-pass-ability, and that’s what this Caddis defence looks to offer.
With the playing budget often spoken about in the past as being seemingly somewhere south of Lads Club’s, the new gaffer seems to have made a little go a long way, in so doing fully living up to that racist stereotype about the Scots being tight. The nutrition budget presumably only has to stretch to jam sandwiches, maltesers and chickpeas, so the money saved there alone has presumably matched the £30k+ raised via the squadbuilder. This could explain how the likes of Andy Williams and Adam Rooney have been lured to Edgar Street this season, although if they’re forced to adopt the official Paul Caddis vegan diet (see above) they may miss games with rickets fairly soon, never mind Willo’s dodgy knee.
Supporters will be keen to see how good Aurio Teixeira becomes as the season evolves, given the move to put him on a two-year contract, a signal of faith only previously offered to Aaron Amadi-Holloway, and if the newcomer is as influential as AAH was last season no-one will be complaining.
It was disappointing to lose Jack Evans over the summer, but young Aaron Skinner signed from Bamber Bridge looks to be a prospect at full back, and Jordan Cranston’s CV suggests that he shouldn’t be down at NLN level at all, so his signature could be quite a coup, in fact THE coup of this new squad.
Willo’s and Jason Cowley’s injuries in pre-season were setbacks undoubtedly, but when they return alongside Adam Rooney that looks like a potentially triumphant triumvirate. It should at least be a significantly greater goal threat than Ty Barnett alone up front chasing his own knock-downs, and it may be as well to get the bad luck of those injuries out of the way at the start of the season.
Koby Arthur is another potent attacking option, and looks like the sort of player seen in opposing teams by Bulls fans over the last few seasons with the quality and CV to make them wish they were playing for Hereford, and frankly wonder why they’re not, given that the club should be a draw at this level. Well, now we’ve got precisely one of those players, in fact hopefully many more than just one, and they’re making encouraging noises about the size of the club at this level being a factor in their decision to sign. It’s about time the size of the club was used positively and not always cited as a burden in terms of matchday expenses etc.
Anyway, it seems unfair to pick out individuals given that a real team ethic seems to be gathering momentum in time for the opener at Kings Lynn.
As ever, the bookies were dead right ahead of the 2022/23 season having priced Hereford at 40/1 for promotion. In fact there were times (Peterborough at home for example) where that may as well have been 40,000/1. This time the Bulls can be backed at as little as 10/1. That perhaps speaks volumes.
One thing it would be remiss not to mention in terms of off-the-field progress in this seasonal preview is the unrecognisable improvement in the club’s PR offering since chairman Chris Ammonds took on the role. That, coupled with a more streetwise, less naïve approach to player contracts, which has realised fees/compensation for the departure of Ryan McLean and Harry Pinchard, can only help in moving the club forward.
On paper at least, and despite what the bookies think, promotion looks like a tall order, given that the club is essentially starting again. The guaranteed six points against Fylde have been lost with their promotion, and if Scunthorpe have finally got their house in order under a decent manager they’ll be ultra-competitive at this level.
However, both Kings Lynn and Chester have lost their key goalscorers from last season, players who contributed markedly to them having the ability and consistency to sit above the perennial blob of mediocrity in the middle of the division. Will that be enough to suck them down into the blob too?
If Hereford can at last be good and consistent enough to at least sit towards the top of the blob, giving them a first ever crack at the play-offs, Paul Caddis will have done a good job, and in the play-offs anything can happen of course.
COYW